Heretofore, many efforts have been made to utilize energy in the form of heat from the sun to supply heat to buildings as well as to heat water for commercial or domestic use. Many of these devices have included a solar collector which receives the heat from the sun and heats a flowing supply of water or other fluid after which the fluid is transferred to a storage area. Many of these collectors have included an insulated housing having a transparent cover and a plurality of fluid containing pipes having a dark or black color which absorbs the heat and transfers such heat to the fluid within the pipes. The heated fluid is then pumped or otherwise moved to a heat storage area or to a location for use. Some prior art structures have used baffles and the like to either direct the heat to the pipes directly or absorb the heat and transmit the heat to the pipes by conduction or radiation.
Some examples of the prior art are disclosed by the U.S. Pat. Nos. to Cummings 4,019,496; Schriefer 4,073,282 and Re. 30,136; Wilson 4,151,829; O'Hanlon 4,210,129; Ramsden 4,220,139; Francia 4,220,140; Lof 4,072,142; Thorne 4,221,209; Williams 4,244,354; and Falconer 4,280,328.